Retro Alimentation between Science and Production

The project started with a tight planification of actions in all directions fine tuned to complement each other....but soon after the start of the interchanges two devastating hurricanes hit Cuba and most of the plans had to be posponed, the programs changed and new dates had to be found. With three months delay we can report that all goals have been achieved and some very exciting discoveries were made.

The “conventional” know-how exchange sessions were a success and have contributed to knowledge and also to some new findings. Most of the missions were also combined with investigating related issues and technologies and some remarkable results were produced:
- Complete substituton of portland cement in cement-earth-blocks (CEB) with lime-puzolanacement (Ecocement)
- Use of Efficient Microbes (EM) as plasticiser in concrete
- Proposals for redesign of the ferrocement panel technology

In an analysis- and planning session of the network in april in Nicaragua, with the participation of delegates from six EoSur partners, it was decided to follow-up this action with an in-depth program to define the different technologies scientifically and to certify them in different countries. A parastatal Nicaraguan firm (INNICSA SA) and the Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería have agreed to participate and at the moment a program is worked out on the base of conducting R+D in the teaching workshop in Diriamba. The scientific management of this program will be with CIDEM and with participation from two more academic centers in Cuba.

Coordination  :  Grupo Sofonias, Schweiz  Sofonias@ecosur.org
Major participants :  CIDEM, Cuba, F.Martirena@enet.cu
SofoNic, Nicaragua : liviogonzalez@nicaragua.ecosur.org
EcoSur Ecuador: preguntas@ecosur.org